"Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley, one of the founders of the National Trust, was among the prime organisers of a public subscription which bought the field in which the stone circle stands, which he then donated to the National Trust. Responsibility for the stone circle remains with English Heritage, the successor body to the Ministry of Works, whilst ownership of the site is retained by the National Trust. Castlerigg stone circle The stone circle at Castlerigg (alternatively Keswick Carles, Carles, Carsles, Castle-rig or Druids' Circle) is situated near Keswick in Cumbria, North West England. One of around 1,300 stone circles in the"
"59 stones (of which 27 remain upright) set in an oval shape measuring 340 ft (100 m) on its long axis. There may originally have been as many as 70 stones. Long Meg herself is a 12 ft (3.6 m) high monolith of red sandstone 80 ft (25 m) to the southwest of the circle made by her Daughters. Long Meg is marked with examples of megalithic art including a cup and ring mark, a spiral and rings of concentric circles. Infra-red aerial photography has identified several undated enclosures that seem to pre-date the Long Meg circle in the area."
"Castlerigg stone circle and Long Meg and Her Daughters. The original purposes of these circles is still debated, although most archaeologists concur that they were built for ritual or ceremonial reasons. Constructed from local slate, the ring has a diameter of about 93 ft 8ins (26.8m), and currently contains 55 stones, although when originally constructed there probably would have been around 60. An entrance-exit was included on the monument's south-eastern side, which was defined by the inclusion of two outer portal stones. In the Early Modern period, local folklore about the stones held that they had once been used in"
"There is also the smaller stone circle of Little Meg (Maughanby) close by. The Long Meg monolith and accompanying circle () forms one part of a complex of monuments in the Penrith area that includes, as well as the nearby Little Meg circle, a smaller circle seen by Stukeley in 1725 to the south-west, no longer extant, plus the impressive henge at Mayburgh, a partly destroyed henge at nearby King Arthur's Round Table (KART), and a third, completely destroyed, henge just a few yards to the south of KART. The terrace upon which Long Meg and the circle sit extends"
"that the large enclosure was made across a valley up to 16 ft (5m) deep. This valley leads to the River Eden where deposits of gypsum are found. It is possible, therefore, like the henges at Thornborough in Yorkshire, that the banks of the ditched enclosure and the stone circle ""may have been white."" The monument is 120yd (109m) x 100yd (93m) in diameter. Long Meg herself stands 80 ft (25m) outside the circle, 20 ft (6m) above the farthest stone in the circle, "" and is the tallest of the 69 stones at 12ft (c. 3.8m) high and weighing"
"reasons, rather than just having been lost. Also at this time, possibly reflecting economic power created by the Axe Factory, stone circles and henges began to be built across the county. Indeed, ""Cumbria has one of the largest number of preserved field monuments in England"". The Neolithic examples include the impressive henge at Mayburgh, near Penrith, and a partly destroyed one at nearby King Arthur's Round Table (KART); as well as the Castlerigg Stone Circle above Keswick. The megalith Long Meg, along with Little Meg and a circle at Glassonby may also have been erected at this time, although they"
"was known locally as 'grey cobbles' by the 20th century. The ring has a diameter of about 93 ft 8ins (26.8m), and currently contains 55 stones, although when originally constructed there probably would have been around 60. Swinside's builders included a ""well defined"" entrance, 2.1 m (7 ft) wide, at the south-eastern side, which was signalled by the placing of two large portal stones outside the circumference of the circle. Such portal openings can also be found at other stone circles in the Lake District, such as Long Meg and Her Daughters. These features are also found in stone circles"
"it will bring very bad luck. Another legend states that if you walk round the circles and count the number of stones correctly, then put your ear to Long Meg, you will hear her whisper. The name itself is said to come from a local witch, Meg of Meldon, who was alive in the early 17th century. From a certain angle, the Long Meg stone resembles the profile of a witch. Note however that Meg of Meldon is the name given to Margaret Fenwick (nee Selsby) who lived at Meldon near Morpeth, Northumberland, some 70 miles from these stones. Long"
"or 'religious' sites can be seen across the county and are often clearly visible. Cairns and round barrows can be found throughout the area and a cemetery has been discovered near Allithwaite. More impressive remains include stone circles, such as Birkrigg stone circle, Long Meg and Her Daughters, Swinside, and Little Meg. 32 bronze artefacts have been discovered in the Furness district covering a long period of time (c. 2300 - 500 BC), suggesting that this region was held to have special meaning to the people there. In the Late Bronze Age, defended hilltop settlements along the northern shore of"
"Long Meg. The Henge forms part of a selection of prehistoric and historic remains in the surrounding area, including: (These, together with Mayburgh Henge, are known as the ""Penrith Henges""). Other pre-historic complexes: Later monuments: Eden Arts Council erected a granite obelisk nearby, called the ""Millennium Stone"" to mark the year 2000. Mayburgh Henge Mayburgh Henge is a large prehistoric monument in the county of Cumbria in northern England. The henge is in the care of English Heritage and is a Scheduled Ancient Monument. It is 400 metres from King Arthur's Round Table Henge. The Ordnance Survey grid reference for"
"c.9 tons (tonnes)."" The Long Meg monolith is of local red sandstone, probably from the River Eden or the nearby Lazonby hills, whereas the circle stones are of rhyolite and are glacial erratics. Two large blocks are placed to the east and west and there are two extra 'portal' stones placed to the south-west. The placement of Long Meg is in the alignment between the centre of the circle and the point of the midwinter sunset. The south-west face of Long Meg has crystals in it, whereas the face looking towards the circle has spirals and other rock art inscribed"
"Castlerigg stone circle The stone circle at Castlerigg (alternatively Keswick Carles, Carles, Carsles, Castle-rig or Druids' Circle) is situated near Keswick in Cumbria, North West England. One of around 1,300 stone circles in the British Isles and Brittany, it was constructed as a part of a megalithic tradition that lasted from 3,300 to 900 BC, during the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Ages. Various archaeologists have commented positively on the beauty and romance of the Castlerigg ring and its natural environment. In his study of the stone circles of Cumbria, archaeologist John Waterhouse commented that the site was ""one of"
"the impressive henge at Mayburgh, near Penrith, and a partly destroyed one at nearby King Arthur's Round Table (KART); as well as the Castlerigg Stone Circle above Keswick. The megalith Long Meg, along with Little Meg and a circle at Glassonby may also have been erected at this time, although they are also possibly early Bronze Age in date. Some of the stones have designs (spirals, circles, grooves and cup-marks) on them which may have indicated the presence of other monuments or gathering-places and/or signaled the trackways and other routes through the landscape, particularly through the river valleys to sources"
"Glebe Stone Circles Glebe Stone Circles are standing stones and National Monument located in County Mayo, Ireland. Glebe Standing Stones are located about 1.6 km (1 mile) east-northeast of Cong. The circles were first noted by Edward Lhuyd on his tour of Ireland in 1699; William Stukeley later reproduced Lhuyd's unpublished drawings. William Wilde connected them to the mythical Battle of Moytura: There are four circles in a variety of styles. About in diameter, 23 stones remain, up to in height with cup and ring marks. About in diameter, the smallest circle. An embanked recumbent stone circle with an orthostat"
"in antiquity with a series of concentric circles and a spiral. Little Meg is situated c.650m north-east of the Long Meg stone circle (). ""It stands on a very slight ridge amongst gently undulating glacial deposits"". Long Meg would have been visible at the time of its use. The stone circles, henges, cairns and other standing stones in the area are often grouped at nodes of communication routes. The Shap Stone Avenue to the south of Penrith, forms an 'avenue' running to the east of the River Lowther along a main route to the north; the Long Meg complex runs"
"Crag Hall, where there are limited places for parking, and then walk along a rough track for 2¼ km (1¼ miles) uphill towards Swinside Farm, where the megalithic ring lies to the right of the path. Megalithic specialist Aubrey Burl called Swinside ""the loveliest of all the circles"" in north-western Europe. In his study of the stone circles of Cumbria, archaeologist John Waterhouse commented that Swinside ""can be compared only to Castlerigg and Long Meg and her Daughters in its visual impact; but its charm – for great charm it undoubtedly has – is greater even than theirs."" During the"
"Beckhampton and West Kennett. Avebury Avebury () is a Neolithic henge monument containing three stone circles, around the village of Avebury in Wiltshire, in southwest England. One of the best known prehistoric sites in Britain, it contains the largest megalithic stone circle in the world. It is both a tourist attraction and a place of religious importance to contemporary pagans. Constructed over several hundred years in the Third Millennium BC, during the Neolithic, or New Stone Age, the monument comprises a large henge (a bank and a ditch) with a large outer stone circle and two separate smaller stone circles"
"henges run alongside the River Eamont near its confluence with the River Lowther. Long Meg and her Daughters lie on a terrace above water, immediately to the south of a ditched enclosure that runs round the present farm. This ditch seems to pre-date the circle of stones, as the latter is deliberately flattened to take the enclosure into account. A spring lies just above the northern perimeter of the enclosure, and another spring may have existed within the enclosure itself. Another, smaller, enclosure lies to the south-east. Although the circle appears to have been built on a slope, Clare suggests"
"cutting, but the exact location of the find is not known. It has been housed in Cork Public Museum since 1940. List of megalithic monuments in Cork </div> Carrigagulla Carrigagulla is a megalithic complex 2.9 km north-east of Ballinagree, County Cork, Ireland. It consists of two recumbent stone circles, two stone rows, and an ogham stone which has been moved around a half mile away. The main site is an axial stone circle, 8.2m in diameter, comprising 16 stones, with one misplaced. Their height varies from 30 cm to 90 cm. The long, straight-edged axial stone is not the lowest,"
"Round, a 17.5 kilometre walk starting and finishing at Braithwaite or Stair in the Newlands valley and including the other nearby fells of Grisedale Pike, Hopegill Head, Eel Crag, Sail, and Causey Pike with over 1300 metres of ascent. The top of the fell is grassy and often muddy with a small cairn and gives a heady view down onto Rigg Beck and a good but not exceptional all round view of the district. The northern slopes of Scar Crags, below Long Crag, contain the remains of the Lake District’s only cobalt mine. It was opened by the Keswick Mining"
"transformation of the bridal party into stone. Hence the local appellation of ""The fiddlers and the maids"". Stanton Drew stone circles The Stanton Drew stone circles are just outside the village of Stanton Drew in the English county of Somerset. The largest stone circle is the Great Circle, in diameter and the second largest stone circle in Britain (after Avebury); it is considered to be one of the largest Neolithic monuments to have been built. The date of construction is not known but is thought to be between 3000 and 2000 BCE which places it in the Late Neolithic to"
"but the most notable find is of a tuyère, (a clay pipe connecting the bellows to a furnace), found at Ewanrigg and which is a rare example from the Early Bronze Age. Two-part stone moulds have also been found at Croglin. Ritual or 'religious' sites can be seen across the county and are often clearly visible. Cairns and round barrows can be found throughout the area and a cemetery has been discovered near Allithwaite. More impressive remains include stone circles, such as Birkrigg stone circle, Long Meg and Her Daughters, Swinside, and Little Meg. 32 bronze artefacts have been discovered"
"Shap Stone Avenue The Shap Stone Avenue (an unofficial name) is a megalithic complex near Shap in Cumbria comprising stone circles, a two-mile avenue (actually two avenues) of stones, and burial mounds. Shap Stone Avenue is one of three major complexes of megalithic monuments to be found in east Cumbria. The stone circles, henges, cairns and other standing stones in the area are often grouped at nodes of communication routes - the monuments around Shap form an 'avenue' running to the east of the River Lowther along a main route to the north; the Long Meg complex runs alongside the"
"at the west end. in diameter with 19 stones. Glebe Stone Circles Glebe Stone Circles are standing stones and National Monument located in County Mayo, Ireland. Glebe Standing Stones are located about 1.6 km (1 mile) east-northeast of Cong. The circles were first noted by Edward Lhuyd on his tour of Ireland in 1699; William Stukeley later reproduced Lhuyd's unpublished drawings. William Wilde connected them to the mythical Battle of Moytura: There are four circles in a variety of styles. About in diameter, 23 stones remain, up to in height with cup and ring marks. About in diameter, the smallest"
"line of a former tramway connecting Long Meg Mine with the nearby Settle–Carlisle line. The site is situated close to Long Meg and Her Daughters and on a popular circular walk. Lacy's Caves Lacy's Caves are a series of 5 chambers in the red sandstone cliff of River Eden, just north of Little Salkeld, Cumbria, England, near Nunnery, at . They are named after Lieutenant-Colonel Samuel Lacy of Salkeld Hall, who commissioned their carving in the 18th century. The reason for their creation is unknown, however they were used by Lacy for entertaining guests and the area was originally planted"
"events (sunsets and solstices related to the four seasons, for example). They work by standing outside the circle at the stone directly opposite to the quartz stone concerned. One alignment, at Samhain / All Souls' Day, may involve Long Meg herself, a portal stone and one of the quartz stones. The use of different coloured stones also seems to be significant - red, white and blue/gray predominate (Long Meg herself being of red sandstone). There might also be a red 'equinox stone' on the east side of the Long Meg circle (as at Swinside and Castlerigg), involved in the Autumn"
"Stanton Drew Stanton Drew is a small village and civil parish within the Chew Valley in Somerset, England, situated north of the Mendip Hills, south of Bristol in the Bath and North East Somerset Unitary Authority. The village is most famous for its prehistoric Stanton Drew stone circles, the largest being the Great Circle, a henge monument consisting of the second largest stone circle in Britain (after Avebury). The stone circle is 113 m in diameter and probably consisted of 30 stones, of which 27 survive today. The village also has a range of listed buildings, dating from the 13th"
"Breeny More Stone Circle Breeny More Stone Circle is a stone circle and National Monument located in County Cork, Ireland. Breeny More Stone Circle is situated southeast of Kealkill, overlooking Bantry Bay to the west. Another stone circle lies to the northeast. Boulder burials of this type are believed to date from the middle Bronze Age, i.e. 1500–1000 BC. The toponym is from the Irish ""brúine móra"", ""great dwellings of the fairies."" This is a stone circle with four boulder burials. The circle has two entrance stones and an axial stone, with a main axis measuring . It has a"
"Avebury Avebury () is a Neolithic henge monument containing three stone circles, around the village of Avebury in Wiltshire, in southwest England. One of the best known prehistoric sites in Britain, it contains the largest megalithic stone circle in the world. It is both a tourist attraction and a place of religious importance to contemporary pagans. Constructed over several hundred years in the Third Millennium BC, during the Neolithic, or New Stone Age, the monument comprises a large henge (a bank and a ditch) with a large outer stone circle and two separate smaller stone circles situated inside the centre"
"Burnmoor stone circles The Burnmoor Stone Circles are a group of five different approximately 4000-year-old stone circles in Cumbria. They are around 1 mile north of the village of Boot. The site which covers roughly a square mile is looked after by the National Trust. The largest circle is known as Brat's Hill and there are two nearby pairs of circles known as White Moss and Low Longrigg. Brat's Hill is the largest stone circle with approximately 42 stones forming an irregular circle with a diameter of 30 metres. There are five funerary cairns within the circle together with two"
"Rosdoagh Stone Circle Rosdoagh Stone Circle is a court cairn and National Monument located in County Mayo, Ireland. Rosdoagh Stone Circle is located southwest of Rossport, near the mouth of the Glenamoy River. The court cairn was built in the Neolithic Age. It was originally recorded as a ""druid's circle"" as it appears to the casual observer to be two concentric rings, however it is today recognised as a court cairn. Rosdoagh is a large court cairn, with a near-circular kerb of 33 stones. It once supported a cairn about in diameter, with sixteen stones surviving from a large central"
"Grange stone circle Grange stone circle (""Lios na Gráinsí"" or Fort of the Grange) 300m west of Lough Gur in County Limerick, Ireland, is situated beside the Limerick-Kilmallock road, 4 km north of Bruff. The stone circle comprises a continuous ring of 113 uprights up to 2.8m high, with a diameter of 45m and backed by an earthen bank 9m wide and about 1.2m tall. The entrance on the eastern side is paved and flanked by uprights. Clay has been packed down to a depth of 60 cm across the whole area of the enclosure. On excavation it was found"
"Fergushill, Higgins (on the old toll road), Millburn, Chapel Croft, Diamond, Gravel, Flush and Hill, and some miners rows existed at one time or other, together with place names such as Swine Park, Chapelholm, Knadgerhill, Irvine March wood, Meadow plantations and Long Drive; an area close to Eglinton Mains called 'The Circle', Crow and Old Woods, The Hill, also known locally as Foxes Lodge, etc., etc. Thomas and Anne Main once lived at The Hill cottage and their daughter Hetty was born there; they moved to Eglinton Mains farm. The 'Circle' was the large circle in the middle of a"